Servitude In Richard Foster's Article, The Discipline Of Service

Often, when I think of acts of service, I envision a group of teenagers headed to go ‘help out those who do not have as much as we do.’ Richard Foster’s article, “The Discipline of Service” is packed with an exploration of what true servitude is. Foster’s article takes our sterile, one-week trip idea of servitude, and demands the reader to think of a daily sacrificial servitude as a the true Biblical model of servitude. In reading this article, there are three main points that I would like to highlight: serving as a means to grow in humility, choosing to be a servant, and serving as a daily, sacrificial lifestyle. Cutting straight to the heart of service, Foster states that “nothing disciplines the inordinate desires of the flesh like service, and nothing transforms the desires of the flesh like serving in hiddenness” (130). This statement clarifies why service is necessary, and in what way service should be carried out. One of the benefits of service is that, not only does it bless those who are on the receiving end, it serves to curb the selfish desires of the heart. Maintaining a heart of pride is very hard to do when daily acts of service slowly tear the prideful heart apart, brick …show more content…
We are called to choose to be a servant. When we enter into every situation looking for ways to be a servant to others, we then open ourselves up to true servitude. In letting God guide us in daily acts of service, “we give up the right to be in charge” (132). By placing all of our actions at the feet of the one who washed our own, our eyes are opened. Jesus, the perfect example of servitude, takes charge in our life so that we are free to use express our joy through serving those around us. Foster’s exploration of what it means to be a true servant provided depth to my previously shallow view of what it means to be a servant. I pray that I will have the humility to look for the ways that I can bring God’s grace into the